Work to begin on Gunbarrel Center in March

BOULDER – More than a decade in planning, the Gunbarrel Center mixed-use development is slated to break ground by the end of March, a spokesman for Scottsdale, Arizona-based developer The Wolff Company said Monday.

Situated on about 9.3 acres at the southwest corner of Gunpark Drive and Lookout Road, Gunbarrel Center will include 251 market-rate apartments and about 29,000 square feet of commercial space spread out among 14 three-story buildings to the east of Gunbarrel’s King Soopers grocery store.

The Wolff Company’s Rob O’Dea said the first apartments could be delivered by spring of next year, with the entire project taking 18 to 24 months.

Gunbarrel Center will include a small amphitheater and a new “Main Street” running through the center of the development. BAR Architects of San Francisco designed the project.

O’Dea said the makeup of the commercial space is to be determined, but could be a mix of retail and professional office space. He said at least one restaurant, in particular, is being targeted to help give Gunbarrel residents and workers more dining options.

O’Dea said that along with a couple of other large apartment complexes coming online near Gunbarrel Center, he believes the commercial space will become particularly valuable.

“So we think this is going to be a fantastic project,´ said O’Dea, who declined to disclose an estimated project cost for Gunbarrel Center.

The Wolff Company owns the project. But the Boulder-based O’Connor Group, which first got the idea of the development rolling in the late 1990s, is still working with The Wolff Company on bringing the project along.

The project plans took on multiple iterations over the years as city officials, neighbors and developers hashed out the best use for the site. The O’Connor Group had the project entitled in a similar form in the mid-2000s. That was before Terry O’Connor, who started the company, died unexpectedly in 2005.

The Wolff Company’s plan for Gunbarrel Center has a similar makeup to the O’Connor Group’s original plans.

“That was important to us as far as working with the Wolffs,´ said Chris Rebich, Terry O’Connor’s stepson and president of the O’Connor Group. “We were fortunate the Wolffs had a similar vision to what we had before.

“It’s been in our family for a long time. Our whole family is very excited.”

The Wolff Company began working with the O’Connor Group on the site a few years ago.

The Wolff Company – which finalized purchase of the land last year for $4.15 million according to Boulder County property records – obtained entitlements for the project in its current form in early 2012. But O’Dea said there was a lot of detail to be finalized with the city and designers in the meantime before construction could begin.

“It’s simply a case of planning and making sure we do it right,” O’Dea said.

He added: “We honestly believe Gunbarrel is the best part of Boulder. We’ve got the views. We’ve got unbelievable density of primary employers. … We think it’s a total diamond in the rough.”